Dreams vs Reality
by daydreamforever
Summary: Arthur now has to face his toughest job. A new client needs Arthur to enter the dreams of Sawyer Renner, a girl who Arthur has fallen in love with but only through her dreams. Arthur/OC PLEASE REVIEW.


_Blackness had engulfed Arthur as he frantically searched for an escape. He felt for something. Anything. But all that he could see was darkness. He was in shadows, an empty pit of nothing and didn't know what to do. Sweat dripped from his neck and his breathing had increased. Where was he? What was happening? He turned in every direction and saw nothing but an abyss of blackness. He closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing._

"_Arthur…" a voice echoed._

_Arthur opened his eyes to find himself still consumed in darkness. Something wasn't right. He wanted to run, but his legs felt like lead, refusing to let him escape from his dark confusion._

"_Arthur…" the voice whispered again._

_Suddenly, Arthur's head began pounding with pain. The pain was so intense that his strength gave away and he dropped to his knees. He gripped his head and shook uncontrollably. The sharp pain continuously throbbed and Arthur yelled out in agony. Confusion, frustration, and pain coursed through his body. _

"_Arthur…" the voice spoke again._

"_What? What do you want?" Arthur shouted in rage._

_Somehow finding the will to stand, Arthur began to run deeper into the darkness. His heart was racing and his entire body ached, but he ran on. _

"_Arthur…" the voice came from behind him._

_In an instant, Arthur glanced over his shoulder and saw a blinding light. The impact of the light was so powerful that he fell to the ground. The light seemed to become brighter with each second and Arthur had to shield his eyes. Then, without warning, the sound of a horn blew….._

Arthur awoke in disarray aboard a train headed to Vienna, Austria. He frantically looked around his cabin taking in the familiar surroundings. He was sitting alone and by now it was mid afternoon. Just to be sure, he took out a red dice from his coat pocket. Quickly folding out the small table, he rolled the dice. Four. Arthur unleashed a sigh of relief for, he was back in reality.

He rested his head in his hands and tried to steady his breathing. It was the third time that he had had the same dream. What did it mean? His heart was beating like crazy, but he had to pull himself together. Once he arrived in Vienna he would be meeting with a new client who was interested in extracting information from a man named, Lenhard Renner. Arthur had done some research on Renner and discovered that he is a top business man in handling foreign affairs. He would find out more when he arrived in Vienna, where he would be meeting up with Ariadne, Eames, and Yusuf. He hadn't seen any of them since the "inception" job with Robert Fischer. Since then, Dom has pronounced himself retired to spend time with his kids. However, Arthur knew, it was only a matter of time before he would want back into the game.

Until then, they were a team of four. Four people who could go inside dreams and take any information they wanted or, at least, what the client wanted. It was a dangerous game to mess with people's dreams, but they were the best of the best and it's what their clients paid good money for.

Arthur looked out the train window trying to forget his own dream. The voice in his dreams was haunting him. It echoed in his mind constantly. His cabin was pure silence making it difficult to focus on anything but his own thoughts.

He grabbed his silver case from below his seat and glanced at the door before opening it. Inside were the cords and machine to keep anyone in someone's dream. Arthur checked all the systems to make sure they were functioning properly. Everything was exactly how he had left it.

Without warning, the cabin door flew open and Arthur quickly shut the case.

"Sorry to startle you," a young woman said from the doorway, "Is this seat taken?"

Before Arthur could respond she sat down in the seat opposite to his. He placed the case back under the seat and looked at the woman sitting across from him. She was tall and slender, sitting with her legs crossed engrossed in a book. She had long wavy brown hair that kept falling into her face as she looked down at her book. He watched for a while as she kept moving her hair out of her face, just to have it fall right back. He hadn't realized he'd been starring until she looked up from her book with one eyebrow raised.

"Yes?" she asked with a side smile.

"Oh, nothing. I was just… good book?" Arthur fumbled.

"Why yes, quite excellent," she said moving her hair once again.

"Really?" Arthur asked.

"No," she laughed and Arthur seemed to relax.

He found himself starring at her again. His eyes scanned up her body, noticing her tanned honey skin, white shorts, gold bracelets, green blouse, and her soft smile. Her laugh had brightened her face making her look even more than beautiful. She had on little make-up and the green blouse accented her deep green eyes. His stare lingered until her voice broke his trance.

"So, where you headed?" she asked with another smile that revealed her dimples.

"Vienna," Arthur said, "On business. You?"

"Same," she said closing her book.

Arthur noticed that she didn't look dressed for business, but decided not to question it. He, himself, was wearing a gray suit with a blue silk tie and vest. His dark brown hair was slick back and his brown eyes were on the stranger in front of him.

"You been to Vienna?" she asked meeting his gaze.

"Only a few times," he said.

"On business?"

"Yes."

"What a shame," she smiled looking amused.

She turned back to her book and they sat in silence for a few minutes until the train's conductor spoke.

"Next stop Vienna. Then, Prague will follow."

Arthur stood up and gathered his belongings. He turned around to grab his jacket off the hook and turned back to be face to face with the young woman. She smelled of fresh flowers and her body was only an inch away from his. He found himself breathing heavily again.

"Nice meeting you," Arthur said smiling helplessly.

"You as well," she smiled from under her long lashes. Her greens eyes met his for a quick moment before she left the cabin.

It wasn't until she left that he realized that he didn't even know her name. Arthur shook his head trying to remind himself that he was in Vienna to work.

Getting off the train, Arthur looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl. People were crowding the streets of Vienna bumping into Arthur as he stood in the middle of the train station spinning in circles hoping to get one last look at the mystery girl. It was foggy and overcast making it difficult to see anyone beyond twenty feet. Just when he was about to give up he saw her from behind. She was walking to catch a taxi and the last thing Arthur saw were her hips swaying away as she disappeared into the fog.

* * *

Arthur made his way to the Hotel Imperial where he would meet up with the team. It was now late afternoon and things were going as scheduled. Arthur held the silver case close to him while he sat in the back of the taxi car. He mind was filled so many thoughts that he didn't realize the taxi had stopped at his destination.

"Kaerntner Ring 16, Hotel Imperial, sir," the taxi driver repeated the address, "That will be 15 euros."

Arthur paid the man and stepped out onto the cobblestone streets in front of the hotel. It had started drizzling lightly, but the streets were still filled with people. Arthur made his way into the hotel and was welcomed by Ariadne who embraced him in a hug.

"How are you?" she asked loosening her grip.

"Good. And starved," Arthur said pleased to see the familiar faces of Yusuf and Eames.

"Yes, lets eat," Eames proclaimed.

The four of them headed to the hotel restaurant in the back. The hotel was elegant and refined with a Victorian design displayed throughout. There was so much intricacy put into the design that Arthur found very impressive. It would be nearly impossible to create a place like this especially for the most experienced dream architects.

The waiter led them to a table off in the corner where a small and stout man sat with two bodyguards. The man had a thick mustache and balding hair that was turning gray. A piano played Beethoven's Bagatelle in the background setting a peaceful mood. Before speaking the man took a large bite of his veal and politely caressed his face with a napkin.

"Please. Sit." He told the team waving his arm.

"Mr. Flemming, nice to meet you. I'm Ariadne," she said holding out her hand to greet him.

"Yes. Yes. I know who you are. Now sit," he said returning his fork to his veal.

Arthur exchanged glances with everyone before pulling out a chair to sit. They all sat waiting patiently for the man to speak.

"Now, shall we get straight to the point?" Mr. Flemming asked clapping his hands together.

"Yes…umm…Mr. Flemming, you've asked us to help you retrieve some information from Lenhard Renner, if I'm correct?" Arthur said reviewing information they all already knew, in hopes to get down to the point of the matter, "What information, exactly, do you need?"

"It's not Lenhard Renner who has the information I need," Mr. Flemming spoke casually.

"But you told us-" Ariadne tried to say before she was stopped by the hand of Mr. Flemming.

"Lenhard Renner is only a part of this project, but it is his daughter, Sawyer Renner, who has the information I need," Mr. Flemming explained opening a manila folder.

"Sawyer Renner?" Eames asked, "What information does she have?"

"Lenhard Renner is a top business man and a smart one at that. He has trained projections protecting his dreams and the information I need. However, he is very close to his daughter, who he has shared important information with," Flemming pulls out a picture and pushes it across the table to Arthur, "She is the one who will have the information I need you to extract."

Arthur looked down at the picture and immediately recognized those green eyes. Sawyer Renner was the girl from the train and Sawyer Renner is the one who has the information that Arthur can only get by entering her dreams.


End file.
